PREFACE.

On the publication of a Glossary of the archaic and provincial words, &c., in use-or known to have been in use-in Shropshire, it seems incumbent upon me to furnish some account of the way in which the work has been carried out, in order to give assurance that it has, to the utmost of my power, been done thoroughly, and that so far it may be relied upon as trustworthy.

In the spring of 1870 I was reading the Rev. Isaac Taylor's Words and Places, when at p. 120 I came across two words-'tine' and 'tining' -which struck a key-note in my memory, calling up recollections of the time when in early childhood I had lived in Shropshire, 'far from the busy town'-had heard the folk-speech day by day, and had shewn such aptitude for picking it up'-words, tones, and all-that I had not unfrequently incurred the censure of my parents for 'speaking like a little Shropshire village-child.' It was a great leap my mind took from now to then; but as clearly as if but yesterday, I heard that, in obedience to some order given, 'John Roberts wuz gwun ŏŏth 'is brummock an' mittins to the uvver leasow to tine a glat the ship 'ad maden.'

Then another and another phrase associated with some incident of the rural surroundings' of my young days rose up before me, until at last I made notes' of them. These I shewed to a literary man of my acquaintance whom I knew to be interested in dialects. After considering them for a few minutes, he said,

'There's the foundation here of a good Glossary; why not make one ?' That was the first idea of the work. In three days from that time it was begun 'in right good sadness.'

Word-collecting was soon in full swing. At the outset of this I was often advised to take the Glossary appended to Mr. Hartshorne's

b

Salopia Antiqua as the basis of mine; but I had formed for myself a plan of independent work, and to that I resolved to keep.

Ultimately, however, when my Glossarial MSS. shewed a total of more than three thousand words, I collated my work with that of Mr. Hartshorne, and from the latter made lists of words not contained in mine. These I endeavoured to verify, and in every case where I was successful in doing so I included the word in my collection, but not otherwise.

My Glossary begun, I went on steadily working in my own way till the formation of the English Dialect Society in 1873 led me to Cambridge to talk matters over with Mr. Skeat. From him I received much valuable help and counsel.

Two of the most important suggestions he made to me were theseto represent the sounds of the words by Glossic symbols, according to Mr. A. J. Ellis's method; and to add the localities where the words were heard or known to be used.

I saw clearly that by such an extension of my scheme a largelyincreased usefulness would be given to my work in a philological point of view, and I at once made up my mind to carry it out, though it involved the cost of going over again in detail all my previous three years' work. I could grudge no pains which should tend to the more worthy accomplishing of that which I had begun with the set purpose of giving to it my best of brain and heart; for from the first it was a 'work and labour of love.' It proved a most troublesome task to localize words which in many cases had been contributed by friends who had made no notes of their whereabouts, and still more difficult was it to arrive at any trustworthy rendering of their sounds.

However, at the end of four more years of patient work my words were all fairly-well assigned to their respective districts, and their pronunciation indicated.

In order to attain this end, I had conceived the idea-based upon a general knowledge of the trend of phonetic variations in the dialect-of mapping out the county into a given number of districts, and then visiting centres of these arbitrary divisions for the purpose of collating my words, and by 'personal audition' noting their sounds.

The plan worked well, and led to many valuable results-variation of form, phonetic change, and other like noteworthy facts. It was my wont on dialecting tours, when I had been settled in head-quarters for a day or two, and had made friends with the good folk there, to begin my work by having a chat with the village blacksmith about his tools, the implements he was making or repairing, and so forth. Often on these

occasions I was met with some such remark as, 'Yo' seemen to know summat about 'em, Ma'am. I could shewn yo' a noud-fashioned tool sich as I dar' say yo' never sid afore.' And then would be brought out of some dark hole or corner an obsolete agricultural implement, and all its parts and uses would be explained to me, and measurements given. And so I learnt all about that, and picked up many words and sounds into the bargain.

The wheelwright would then be visited, and the terms of his craft acquired in like manner. The butcher would allow me to go into his shop to see how the great joints-'slench,' 'lift,' &c.-were cut for his country customers. Some neighbouring farmer and his wife would be pleased to show me the farm-yard, the poultry-yard, and the dairy, and thus I learnt the lore they had to teach. The school-master or mistress would tell the children 'to gather posies and bring them to school for the lady;' and then they would allow me to ask them by what names they knew the flowers they had gathered. I learnt most of my plantnames in this way, a good many bird-names also, and other things besides.

I visited the old people in their cottages, and, leading them to talk of past times, would elicit many a word now dead or dying out, and, hearing it, would note its sound.

I was often fortunate in interesting some intelligent person of the peasant-class in my work, and to such a one I would read over my MS. word-lists, which I invariably took with me. The emendations of these thus obtained were invaluable. 'That inna-d-our word-we sen so-and-so;' or, 'That'll do, nobody can mend that,' would bring out a new term to be recorded, or would confirm the accuracy of my work.

I proceeded on this plan, with more or less of interruption caused by fragile health, until the summer of 1877, when illness compelled me not only to give up a visit I was about to pay to the south-east part of the county, but also to relinquish all further investigations which would have involved fatiguing journeys. However, by methods such as I have described I had accumulated a mass of authentic information; friends had most kindly supplemented my own efforts by furnishing me with very minute answers to the crucial test-questions I had framed in order to elicit evidence upon doubtful points; and I felt, that though I would gladly have done more had strength been given to me for the work, I had yet done what I could,' and that I might fearlessly leave all that I was unable to do, without incurring the reproach of conscience within or of critics without.

The Introductory Grammar falls far short of my wishes, but, as far as it goes, it will, I hope, be found useful. It is, I think, the first attempt of the kind for the Shropshire dialect, and, bearing in mind what Max Müller says,-"The first grammar of a language is a work of infinitely greater difficulty than any later grammar' [Science of Language, p. 180],-I trust my effort may make it easier for some one coming after me to complete more worthily that which I have begun.

And now I leave my work to speak for itself: its errors are not those of carelessness, and whatever of merit it possesses may fairly be shared with those who have with the utmost kindness and cordiality given me their assistance. Of these, some have been fellow-workers with me from the beginning, others later on; but to each and all I owe a debt of gratitude for the good service they have rendered me in my arduous task. The Shropshire Word-Book could not have been either so copious or so complete as it is but for these helpers.

Chief amongst them are, taking them in the order of the districts:MR. ROBERT EDDOWES DAVIES, of Kingsland, Shrewsbury, who for upwards of eight years of my work has contributed largely to its general usefulness. His word-lists have been more especially for the SHREWSBURY, WORTHEN, and CLEE HILLS districts.

MRS. GROVES, of Great Hanwood, has done most valuable work for PULVERBATCH and WORTHEN. The obsolete words assigned to those districts are what she remembers her grandmother, Hannah Fletcher, using, who died in 1822, aged 86 years: the date for their decay is thus furnished.

The REV. JOHN BURD, M.A., Vicar of Chirbury, has supplied some words, &c., for the WORTHEN district.

MR. GEORGE PUGH, of Wheathill, near Wellington, has contributed a very considerable number of words for the CLEE HILLS district, also for LUDLOW, BRIDGNORTH, &c.

MR. CYRIL JOYCE, of Burford, has furnished a copious list of words from that neighbourhood — the extreme south of Salop; and MR. THOMAS MORGAN-BOUND, of Orleton, has given much valuable help in the LUDLOW district generally.

MR. HUBERT SMITH, F.R.H.S., of S. Leonard, Bridgnorth, has in various ways assisted me materially in working up the BRIDGNORTH district.

MR. W. P. BROOKES, F.R.C.S., has done very useful work in the MUCH WENLOCK district.